You Should Go
by Miss Elisha
Summary: A series of drabbles featuring George and Alicia. Set in my Gain of a Loss universe and referenced in chapter 7 of GoaL, but a year before that story starts. Followed immediately by my You Should Stay drabble series.
1. Chapter 1

"Come on! You haven't done anything fun in weeks!" Fred yelled at me from the doorway.

"In case you haven't noticed, there's a war on," I replied, not moving from my spot on the couch. "Not much fun to be had."

"That's bollocks, and you'd know it if you ever left the flat!" He grabbed my jacket from the peg beside the door and tossed it into my lap. "You're going with me if I have to Body-Bind and Levitate you all the way there!"

"Fine," I said, standing and pulling my jacket on. "Someone obviously needs to watch out for your stupid arse."

"Exactly, so let's go." He stepped behind me and shoved me out the door.

A few minutes later we walked into the Leaky Cauldron, and Fred was almost immediately accosted by Angelina. Alicia Spinnet was standing behind her and rolled her eyes. "We've already got a table. I'll show you." She grabbed my hand and offered me a small smile before dragging me towards a booth. I glanced over my shoulder to see Fred smirking at me, and Angelina giggling at his side. I glared in return.

It wasn't that bad though. Fred and Angelina snogged in the corner, I made snide remarks about them and drank too much Firewhisky, and Alicia smiled and inched closer to me and laughed at every one of my jokes.

A couple of hours later Fred announced that he and Angelina were leaving. "I'll be out. Don't wait up," he said, meaning that the flat was mine for the remainder of the night. Then he added, flicking his eyes in Alicia's direction, "At least not for me." I didn't have time to respond before they were gone.

Alicia ducked her head and looked up at me from under her brow. "I should probably be going too . . . shouldn't I?"

She bit her lip and watched while I downed the rest of my drink. "Yeah, you should go."

She sighed and looked away.

"With me."


	2. Chapter 2

Alicia wasn't there when I woke up the next morning. I rolled out of bed, threw on some pants, and stumbled toward the kitchen, longing for a very strong cup of coffee and one of the hangover potions that Fred, the ruddy scheming bastard that he is, had whipped up yesterday. But when I walked in I found the tosser himself sitting at the table, drinking coffee, and having a rather jovial conversation with a still-disheveled Alicia. She immediately hopped up and poured another cup of coffee, and I saw that she was wearing one of my shirts and a pair of my shorts.

I watched her rather dumbly and took a seat at the table. Fred shot me a grin that slid right off his face when he saw my expression. Alicia sat the coffee down in front of me and ran her hand across my shoulders before returning to her seat. As soon as she sat down, Fred stood up. "I'd better go get the shop opened," he said, and made a rather awkward exit. It was nothing compared to how I felt.

She spoke first, asking, "You want me to fix you some breakfast?"

"No," I said, grimacing at the thought. "I don't think that's a good idea."

"Something else, then. A potion, perhaps?"

"No, I'm fine with the coffee."

We sat in silence, one of us occasionally taking a sip, until finally I had to say something. "Look, I'm sor—"

"Don't," she said, cutting me off. "Please. I knew what I was getting into as soon as you walked in, so just don't."

I nodded, and the silence was back.

She finished her coffee, then pushed back from the table. "Well . . . thanks, I guess. I'll just . . ."

"Yeah," I said. "You should go."


	3. Chapter 3

A week or so later I was heading into the apothecary to pick up a few supplies when Alicia ran right into me on her way out the door, almost knocking herself over in the process. I caught her before I even realised who it was. When I did realise, I righted her as quickly as I could and took a step backwards.

"Lovely to see you too, George," she said, sneering.

I couldn't think, and all I managed to say was, "What are you doing here?"

"I'm sorry, I didn't realise you owned the whole of Diagon Alley now."

"No, I . . . " I shook my head in an attempt to clear it, but it didn't help much. "This is stupid."

"You're a right bastard, you know that? I've known that for years." But then she sighed and moved towards me. Quietly, she said, "As I told you, I knew exactly what I was getting into, so don't bother feeling awkward, or, Merlin forbid, _obligated_. I don't. I offered, and that's all there is to it. Perhaps if you're nice, I'll let you return the favor some day. You have heard of _nice_, haven't you?"

"Never really had much use for _nice_."

"Obviously." She stepped even closer, almost pressing against me, and whispered, "But you owe me one, Weasley, and I'm not about to let you forget it."

I swallowed hard, and stared straight ahead, not meeting her gaze. "I won't forget."

"Good." She stood there a moment longer before stepping away again. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I really should go."


	4. Chapter 4

It wasn't until I was making my way home from Ron's stag party weeks later that I saw Alicia again. I hadn't been purposefully avoiding her, but after the night I took her home even Fred stopped trying to make me socialize, so there hadn't been much opportunity. She passed me almost right at the door of the joke shop, huddled in on herself, and I don't think she even noticed me until I called out, "Alicia, hey!"

She spun around, wand at the ready. "George, what are you doing here?" The startled look dropped from her face when she saw it was me, but she didn't lower her wand.

I pointed to the shop. "I live here. What's your excuse?"

She did lower her wand then. "I'm going to Floo home from the Leaky. I don't trust myself not to splinch right now."

I looked back the way I had come, at the dark, empty street, then back at Alicia, who was obviously unsettled. "You can use our Floo, come on up."

I moved towards the door, but she hesitated. "Are you trying to take advantage of me again?"

"Advantage? The way I remember it, you offered," I said as I opened the door for her. "But no, I'm not. I'm trying to be . . . what's the word? Nees? Naughts? Nice? That's it, I'm trying to be _nice_."

She narrowed her eyes and glared. "Why?"

I shrugged. "I've been at the Leaky Cauldron for the past four hours. I'm pissed." She huffed and opened her mouth to speak, but I cut her off. "Look, if you want to walk all that way," I gestured vaguely in the direction of the Leaky, "in the dark and the cold and the damp, go right ahead, but you're welcome to use our Floo. That's my final offer, take it or leave it."

She sighed and tucked her wand back into her cloak. "All right," she muttered, and headed up the stairs in front of me.

I showed her into the living room and pointed, saying, "Powder's on the mantle there," then went into the kitchen for a glass of water.

When I came back I expected her to be gone, but she was still standing there, wringing her hands. "Thank you, George. It _is_ nice of you."

"Yeah, well, I'd rather not have word of that getting out, if it's all the same to you."

"No worries on my part." She gave me a half-smile, and I nodded. "Well, I should go."

"Night, Alicia."

"Good night, George."


	5. Chapter 5

I stayed home on New Years Eve. There had been a rash of attacks in the couple of weeks before, and any large gatherings were dangerous places to be, so everyone was laying low. Fred had gone to Angelina's for the evening, and I'd been doing some research on Gurdyroot for a new product we were concocting. I was rather surprised when I heard a knock on the door, and even more surprised when I opened it to find Alicia, soaking wet and sobbing.

Before I had a chance to speak she launched herself at me, burying her face against my shoulder and sobbing even harder. I pulled her into the flat, shut the door behind us, and fumbled for my wand. I cast a quick drying charm, adding a warming charm for good measure, and put my arms around her, unsure of what to do next.

After a few minutes her crying eased up, and she said, "I'm sorry, I just . . ."

"No, it's fine. What happened?"

She shook her head. "I don't want to talk about it."

"Okay." I was somewhat dumbfounded. I'm not exactly the type people turn to for comfort. "Erm . . . do you want a . . . glass of water . . . or something?"

Again she shook her head, this time pushing away from me and wiping her eyes. "No, thank you. Can we sit down?"

"Yeah, of course," I said, glad to have something, anything, I could do.

We went into the living room and sat on opposite ends of the sofa. "I wasn't sure how you'd react to me just showing up like that. I wasn't even sure you'd let me in."

"You really do think I'm a bastard, don't you?"

"Only sometimes."

"Sometimes I suppose I am," I shrugged.

She scooted over until she was right next to me and gave me a thin smile. "You do have your good points though."

"Ah yes, like you can always count on me to be home when you're looking for somewhere to go."

She turned sideways so she was facing me and put her hand on my leg. "And you always make me laugh." She ran her hands up my thighs. "And you're . . . attractive." She climbed into my lap, straddling me, and slid her hands up my chest and over my shoulders. "And you're good at—"

"Stop," I said, taking hold of her wrists. "You don't want to do this."

"How do you know what I want?"

"Isn't the regret bad enough already? You don't want to make it worse."

Her eyes went wide and her nostrils flared, and she snatched her hands away from mine. "Let me tell you what I want. I want to forget that there's a war on. I want to forget that we're all in danger every second of every day. I want to forget that people are dying, my _friends_ are dying! For ten fucking minutes I just want to stop thinking about it! I know you can do that for me, and you owe me. You _owe _me! I want you to—"

I grabbed her arms and pulled her against me, crushing my mouth to hers. I knew exactly what she meant, what she was talking about. The urge, the _need _to forget was overwhelming, even though we knew it would all come rushing back and ache even more because of the break. I knew what she wanted, because I wanted it to.

I broke away from her and squeezed the words through my teeth. "One last chance. You should go. _Now._"

"I'm not going anywhere."


	6. Chapter 6

"I guess we're even now."

I looked over at her, and said, "Even? Is that was this was about, getting even with me?"

I deserved it. I knew that. Whatever she could throw at me. But if getting even was the point, why give me the line? Why wait so many weeks? Why show up at my door in such a state? Wouldn't the point have been better made without the ruse?

"You know damn well . . . " She trailed off when her eyes met mine. "Part of it. Made it easier."

"Good."

"Oh, fuck you! You don't get to be smug about it now!"

"I'm not . . . !" I scrubbed my hands over my face and took a deep breath. "I'm trying to do the right thing here, Alicia, I really am."

"Well you can't. You passed on the right thing a long time ago."

"I know."

There was a pause, and then she whispered, "We both did."

"I am sorry, you know. Not that that's worth anything to you, but I am."

"It is worth something. But I don't want to forgive you. It's so much easier not to. Sometimes I think . . ." She drew a sharp breath, and I heard her gulp before she continued. "I'm afraid that if I'm not angry I just won't feel anything."

"Yeah, I know what you mean. This war . . . kind of has that effect, doesn't it?" I rolled onto my side and pushed up on one elbow. "If you need to be angry at someone, I suppose I'm as good a candidate as any."

She put her hand on my cheek and gave me a tight smile. Then she sighed and said, "I should probably go. I think I've disturbed you enough for one night."

"I don't mind. You should stay."


End file.
